82859: Is there any saheeh hadeeth about the circumcision of females?

Is there any evidence, such as a sahih hadeeth, that states that the prophet of Allah (Blessings and peace be upon him) had or allowed his wives and/or daughters to be circumcised in any shape or form?.

Praise be to Allaah.

We do not
know of any hadeeth in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) ordered that his wives or daughters be circumcised, but it is
narrated that he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) advised a
woman who did circumcision in Madeenah as to the proper way of circumcision.
It was narrated by Abu Dawood (5271), al-Tabaraani in al-Awsat, and
al-Bayhaqi in al-Shu’ab from Umm ‘Atiyyah al-Ansaariyyah that a woman
used to do circumcision in Madeenah, and the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to her: “Do not go to the extreme in
cutting; that is better for the woman and more liked by the husband.” This
hadeeth was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

According to
another report: “Take only a little and do not go to extremes.”

It is also
indicated by the general meaning of the evidence that has been narrated
concerning circumcision, such as the hadeeth in al-Bukhaari (5891) and
Muslim (527) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him): I heard the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “The fitrah is
five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – circumcision, shaving
the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit
hairs.”

In Saheeh
Muslim (349) it is narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with
her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“When a man sits between the four parts (arms and legs of his wife) and the
two circumcised parts meet, then ghusl is obligatory.”

According to
a report narrated by al-Tirmidhi (109) and elsewhere: “When the two
circumcised parts meet…”

Al-Bukhaari
used this phrase as a chapter heading.

Al-Haafiz
ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: What is meant by this
metaphor is the circumcised parts of the man and the woman.

Female
circumcision is done by cutting a small part of the skin that looks like a
rooster’s comb, above the exit of the urethra. The Sunnah is not to cut all
of it, but rather a part of it. Al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (19/28).

The
Shaafa’is, the Hanbalis according to the well-known view of their madhhab,
and others are of the view that circumcising women is obligatory. Many
scholars are of the view that it is not obligatory in the case of women;
rather it is Sunnah and is an honour for them.

But we would
like to point out here that it has medical benefits to which attention
should be paid, regardless of the difference of opinion among the scholars
as to whether it is obligatory or mustahabb. This has been discussed in the
answer to question no. 45528.